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The road to ye was a tumultuous one for Kanye West — from his flood of controversial comments, to the Wyoming listening party spectacle, to last-minute changes made to the album, the rollout wasn’t exactly smooth. But evidently it was all worth it. West’s follow-up to 2016’s The Life Of Pablo has debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 for the week ending June 7.
Elsewhere on the chart, Black Thought’s Stream Of Thought Vol. 1 EP made its entrance at #62, while Pusha T’s DAYTONA and A$AP Rocky’s Testing albums dropped significantly.
It’s A “ye” Thing
Despite fans’ polarizing views on Yeezy, ye still took the Billboard 200 crown, racking up 208,316 total album equivalent units (84,860 in pure album sales and a streaming count of 180,085,322). This is his eighth straight #1 debut, and he did it with the fifth biggest sales-week of 2018, behind Post Malone (461,000), J. Cole (397,000), Justin Timberlake (293,000) and Cardi B (255,000).
‘Ye’s previous album, The Life Of Pablo, also debuted at #1 upon its initial release but only sold around 94,000 units in its first week (including 28,000 in pure album sales).
West’s creative burst isn’t over yet. After releasing Pusha T’s DAYTONA on May 25 and ye on June 1, he dropped his collaborative project with Kid Cudi, Kids See Ghosts, on June 8. He still has a Nas album he said would arrive on Friday (June 15) as well as a project from Teyana Taylor.
In the meantime, check out the ye review here.
Black Thought Makes Modest Debut
Despite its glowing reviews, Black Thought’s new project, Stream Of Thought Vol. 1, made a modest debut on the chart. With 9,864 total album equivalent units (7,978 in pure album sales and a streaming count of 2,603,171), the 9th Wonder and Soul Council-produced project landed at #62.
The Roots frontman hasn’t officially released a solo album but since his monster Hot 97 freestyle last December, people have been hoping to get one soon.
Read the Stream Of Thought Vol. 1 review here.
DAYTONA & Testing Pump The Breaks
Pusha T’s DAYTONA took at 61 percent dive in sales and wasn’t able to stay in the Top 10 in its second week. With 29,464 total album equivalent units (10,665 in pure album sales and a streaming count of 27,140,265), he wound up at #13. The new album was released on May 25 and debuted on the chart at #3.
This marks the G.O.O.D. Music president’s first album since 2015’s King Push – Darkest Before Dawn: The Prelude, which debuted at #4, selling 84,000 copies in its first week.
Read the DAYTONA review here.
Likewise, A$AP Rocky’s Testing album couldn’t maintain its Top 10 placement, dropping from #4 to #15 after a 64% decrease in sales. The project moved 26,638 equivalent album units (1,401 in pure album sales and a streaming count of 37,084,991).
Check out DX’s Testing review here.
Top 10 Billboard 200 Rap & R&B Albums For The Week Ending 06/07/2018
Note: The first number below is this week’s “total album equivalent units” count, an intersection of album sales, single sales, and streams implemented by Billboard’s new rating system. A pure album sales figure is available in bold in parenthesis and information about each album’s streaming count is available in brackets.
- Kanye West — ye — #1 — 208,316 (84,860) [180,085,322]
- Post Malone — Beerbongs & Bentleys — #2 —98,825 (10,170) [120,525,220]
- Cardi B — Invasion Of Privacy — #5 — 42,073 (3,868) [59,038,837]
- Juice WRLD — Goodbye & Good Riddance — #6 — 43,323 (1,052) [59,326,975]
- Lil Baby — Harder Than Ever — #9 — 37,286 (473) [53,900,474]
- J. Cole — KOD — #12 — 29,491 (3,934) [37,103,425]
- Pusha T — DAYTONA – #13 — 29,464 (10,665) [27,140,265]
- A$AP Rocky — Testing – #15 — 26,638 (1,401) [37,084,991]
- Post Malone — Stoney — #12 — 26,089 (2,180) [32,948,996]
- Migos — Culture II — #14 — 22,485 (1,346) [29,376,829]
Source: Hip Hop DX
